Squarespace doesn’t have a free plan, though they do have a free trial.  This can make it difficult for them to compete against website builders that do have free plans, at least among the audience of people who don’t realize why having ads added to their site is bad.

To ease the burden of that initial price, coupon codes are a great resource.  There are always several of them floating around, and there are many different ways to get this discount.  I’m going to try to keep this post up to date with any methods of getting coupon codes I can find, so if you know of one (that isn’t just your affiliate code), let me know!

Get up to 30% off ALL plans when you pay annually

no coupon code needed

What to Know About Squarespace Discounts

Before I get into the specific discount codes you can use, I want to make a few general notes about discount codes across the board.

First and foremost, every discount code you find will apply to your first purchase only.  You’ll usually find a terms and conditions document attached to their codes, which is usually just a single paragraph and looks like this:

“Enter DISCOUNTCODE at the checkout by <expiration date> to receive ##% off your purchase of a new subscription plan for a Squarespace website.  Discount is only valid until <expiration date>.  Discount applies to the first payment of an annual or monthly website plan but does not apply to future recurring payments.  Discount may not be applied to previous purchases, subscription upgrades, combined with any other offer or applied after <expiration date> to purchases made before the expiration of this offer.”

In other words, the discounts are limited to one per transaction, for the first purchase of a new website. 

To get the most out of a discount, I have a few tips for you before you sign up:

Get up to 30% off ALL plans when you pay annually

no coupon code needed

Pay annually.  I know it’s a big up-front purchase to buy an annual subscription, but keep in mind that you’re getting double the discounts when you do.  Let’s say you’re buying a Business plan, their most popular plan.

1. Monthly, with no discount: $26 per month, for $312 per year.

2. Monthly, with a 10% discount: You get 10% off your first payment of $26, so your annual cost is $309.40

3. Annual, with no discount: $18 per month, for $216 per year.

4. Annual, with 10% discount: You get 10% off your first payment of $216, so your annual cost for the first year is $194.40.

Thus, using the smallest possible discount while buying an annual plan has you paying $117.60 less than you would if you didn’t bother to optimize your purchase.  That’s quite a discount!  It’s even better if you take advantage of a larger discount than their basic 10% off deals that they run.

Buy the largest plan you think you might need.  Squarespace offers four packages: Personal, Business, Commerce, and Advanced Commerce.  You can view their pricing page to see the difference in features between them, as well as the default pricing. 

My recommendation is to buy the highest tier plan you need at the outset.  If you think you might want Commerce, but might only need Business, you can always downgrade later.  However, if you buy Business and decide that you want the features from Commerce, you can upgrade later, for a fee.

The trouble is, you can’t apply a coupon code to a subscription upgrade.  You save the most money by buying the larger plan with a discount than buying the smaller plan and upgrading at full price later.

Make use of the educational discount if you can.  The last option on my list here is the best one by far.  Most Squarespace offers are 10% or 20% off your first payment, but the educational discount is 50% off your first year.  It’s harder to qualify for since you need an email address from your educational institution to enroll, but it’s well worth it if you can get it.

Don’t be afraid to wait.  Squarespace very frequently offers coupon codes for holidays and special promotions.  If a current code has expired, or it’s not the best discount and you want to see if a new code for the next month is better, go ahead and wait for it.  I wouldn’t wait an entire month, but if it’s just a few days until the current code expires, it might be worthwhile waiting for the next one.

So, there you go; my tips for getting the biggest discount you can out of Squarespace.  Now let’s look at ways you can get those discount codes.

Option 1: Basic Squarespace Discounts

Squarespace has one permanent discount code that is always active and always available on their site.  When you sign up and go through the checkout process, you’ll be prompted to enter any discount codes you may have. 

One of those discount codes is “GIMME10”.  This is promoted directly on the Squarespace coupons page and gives you 10% off of your purchase.  It’s only valid for your first purchase, and it’s the single smallest discount you can get.  Just about any other offer is going to be a bigger discount, this is just their permanently available offer for anyone looking to sign up.

Option 2: Monthly Discounts

Squarespace often has promotions of its own that they run every month.  For example, as I’m writing this at the end of March, they have a banner with the code “MARCH20A” at the top of their site.  That code is 20% off your first purchase, much like the code above.  The trick is, it expires at the end of March.  Squarespace will likely have an April or an Easter or Spring-themed code for next month, for example.

There’s almost always some kind of promotion running.  It’s an open secret that Squarespace always has some kind of discount running, so you never have to pay full price for signing up. 

How do you find this code?  Just check their website.  It’s usually in a banner at the top of their page.

Option 3: Work with a Circle Member

Squarespace has a program called Circle.  People who are big into Squarespace can sign up to be Circle members.  Circle members get a bunch of benefits, including discounts on subscriptions, six-month versions of trial sites, prioritized support from Squarespace directly, exclusive content, guides, and release notes, and a special badge they can add to their sites.

To be eligible for Circle, a developer first needs to be active in running or contributing to at least three active Squarespace sites.  You need to apply to be a Circle member, and not everyone makes it.

One of the main benefits a Circle member can offer is that, when you work with them to set up a site, you get an automatic 20% off.  There’s no code to apply, but your site needs to be set up by the Circle member.  Usually, this means working with a freelancer or agency that sets up Squarespace sites for a living.

The hard part of this discount is finding a Circle member.  There’s no directory of Circle members, you simply need to look for the Circle badge on the site of the person you’re scouting, or send them an email or contact message asking if they’re a Circle member and can work with you.

Option 4: Hire an Expert

Working with a Certified Squarespace Expert gets you an automatic 20% discount when you have your site designed by their agency.  Squarespace maintains a directory of certified experts.  You can browse that directory here.

You can also go through the “get matched” process by clicking the button at the top of that page.  You log in with your Squarespace account and fill out a series of forms to create a brief for your website.  The brief goes out to relevant experts, and those experts can reach out to you and pitch their services.

Unlike Circle, you don’t need to have the expert make your site for you.  Many experts offer training courses, resources, exclusive communities, or eBooks to help you design your first site.  They simply have a custom coupon code that can give you a 20% discount when you reach whatever point in their training where they give it to you. 

It’s difficult to generalize this option, simply because every expert has a unique process and program that they recommend.  You’ll have to experiment with them yourself.

Option 5: Educational Discounts

Squarespace wants to be part of education programs for aspiring web developers, designers, and content creators, as well as those looking to get started in eCommerce while they’re still in school.  As such, they offer an educational discount, which is one of the best discounts out there.

Unlike other discounts, the educational discount is 50% off your first year, regardless of whether you’re paying monthly or annually.  That’s a lot!

To first claim this discount, you need to have an email address assigned to you by your educational institution.  For example, yourname@university.edu is the general email format, though every university already has a domain name.  Squarespace will ask you to select your educational institution from their list.  If your school doesn’t happen to be on the list, you can fill out a form and they’ll set about adding it, and then reach out to the school to enroll in the program.  Once your institution has, Squarespace will send you an email letting you know and giving you their discount offer.

This discount isn’t just for students!  Students are the main target audience, but faculty and staff can also take advantage of it.  Professors, TAs, teachers, administrative staff, custodial staff; anyone who has a .edu email address can qualify.  If you can qualify for this, it’s a great deal, and I highly recommend giving it a try.

Option 6: Additional Discounts

There are quite often a few other discounts and offers available.  Forbes does a good job of aggregating these and keeps a handful of discounts available.  Some of their “offers” aren’t real offers, though.  The “13-30% off annual plans” is just Squarespace’s default annual pricing, but it’s listed as a special offer here.

Wrapping Up

I highly recommend Squarespace as a great place to start a website or online business, but I readily acknowledge that the price can be a little steep when you’re not sure whether or not your idea will pan out and make money.  It can take quite a while to build a site up to the point where you’re making back your investment, and some people take years to reach that point.

If you want assistance with setting up a Squarespace site, or if you want custom themes or templates, please drop me a line.  I love helping people get started.  Feel free to reach out via the site, or just click here to get started with Squarespace.  Don’t forget to check for active discounts!